Building The Bonehouse Of Belonging
About this Event
The world has gone mad.
We could start there.
The problems all seem so big. The possible responses seem so small. That smallness is where we’ll focus.
Our landbased, old time ancestors, for all the troubles they faced, seemed to have crafted an approach to life that made room for the limits, frailties and endings among them and that accounted for our natural human stupidities and selfishness while, at the same time, finding ways of feeding our better angels of deep, human beauty.
They had a way of meeting the ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’ of our little, human lives in a way that ensured the greeting and farewell actually happened rather than slipping by unnoticed.
But, for most of us, that’s long gone. We’re left with the tailings and remnants of memory and a spiritual, cultural poverty that goes so deep, it’s impossible to know where to start.
Modern society fails its mothers and fathers, its new borns and its dying ones, its young boys and girls as they stand at the precipice of adolescence, its newly weds and divorcees. It throws fuel on the fire of every conflict ensuring it ends in cancellation. The divides among us grow deeper and more entrenched (e.g. gender, the middle east, vaccines, AI, ethnicity.)
Many of us feel without much hope for a better day or there ever being a healthy culture amongst us again.
This gathering is premised on the idea that, while we can’t change it all, we can begin to foster the conditions in which healthy and alive human culture can flourish at very small, local levels (where all true culture lives). We can, at the human scale, feed the soil of goodwill and shared understanding between us with the needed nutrients, prebiotics and probiotics that nourish culture (which is what makes a human life living and possible).
We’ll be exploring shifting from shifting from psychology to mythology, archetype to architecture and demagoguery to democratizing these principles.
This evening could be a wonderful fit for you if:
- You recognize the above and see it played out in your life
- You are drawn to the works of Stephen Jenkinson, Martin Prechtel, Stephanie Mackay, Bayo Akomolafe, Michael Meade, Ian Mackenzie, Pat McCabe, Tyson Yunkaporta, Hanna Leigh, John Young and others working to restore cultural memory
- Have seen and experienced moments of rich cultural tending and beauty and want to be a part of fostering more of that for others
- You are drawn to indigenous, land based traditions
- You are not willing to concede that your ancestors were nothing but colonizers and pillagers and believe they may have left you some ‘sourdough starter’ for your culture work.
In this session, we’ll explore:
- Different lenses on what ‘culture’ means
- A working definition of ‘culture work’
- How we can support a shift from the privatization of our lives and relationships to opening the circle a little wider.
- Stories and examples and conversations on how to work with what’s already happening - the ordinary hellos and goodbyes of life - and turn them into an occasion for us to gather and harness them to the wagon of culture work.
- Some reliable principles we can lean on as we engage in responding to the troubles of the times we live in.
- How a boy’s coming of age is an occasion for culture work
- How to craft Grassroots Rites of Passage for the boys in our communities
About Your Facilitators:
Tad Hargrave
Since 2001, he has been weaving together strands of ethical marketing, Waldorf School education, a history in the performing arts, local culture making, anti-globalization activism, an interest in his ancestral, traditional cultures, community building and supporting local economies into his work helping people create profitable businesses that are ethically grown while restoring the beauty of the marketplace. He has spent years studying Scottish Gaelic, folklore, myth and studied deeply with Stephen Jenkinson since 2014.
Miki Dedijer
Miki Dedijer is a facilitator of community-based rites of passage for boys, drawing on his background as an ecologist, permaculture practitioner, storyteller, and father. After recognizing the absence of traditional rituals and communal support while raising his own sons on a farm in rural Sweden, Miki dedicated himself to restoring meaningful initiation experiences rooted in nature and local relationships. He has guided fathers over several decades, and developed and led programs that bring together families, mentors, and young people for nature-based learning, ceremony, and collective support, emphasizing that every boy’s transition into adulthood is best nurtured by a circle of caring adults and real engagement with the land. Miki holds a degree in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from Princeton University, and was for 20 years an environmental journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker across four continents, focusing on how our relationship to nature affects our communal and personal health.
Agenda
🕑: 02:00 PM - 02:15 PM
Welcome and Introductions
🕑: 02:15 PM - 04:15 PM
Building The Bonehouse of Belonging with Tad Hargrave
🕑: 04:15 PM - 04:30 PM
Break
🕑: 04:30 PM - 06:00 PM
Crafting Grassroots Rites of Passage for Boys with Miki Dedijer
🕑: 06:00 PM
Wrap Up
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 25.00
